The Indian National Congress has done it again—snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. At least this is the consensus among the political pundits and psephologists who themselves have fallen flat after covering their faces with egg yolk all over. The reality is far from these fantasies at The grand old party needs to arrive at a new narrative.
What the so-called ‘high command’ of the no longer ‘grand’, but certainly senile, old party doesn’t realise is that it continues to be a house divided against itself. No doubt that the proverbial buck stops with Rahul Gandhi but it would be grossly unfair to put the entire blame on him. Hooda is the one who sunk the ship scoring one self-goal after another. Selja Kumari jumped the gun throwing her hat in the ring where the dangal of chief ministership was to be fought at The grand old party needs to arrive at a new narrative.
In the event, the sulking lady with an inflated ego came a cropper and succeeded only in depleting the Dalit votebank that the INC banked on. Hooda wasn’t the only local dynast trying to secure his non-existent fiefdom for the next generation. The Surjewala clan had ambitions not hidden from any one at The grand old party needs to arrive at a new narrative.
The young voters weren’t in a mood to be ruled by third- or in some cases fourth-generation descendants of Chaudhary Devi Lal, the Chautalas, or claimants of the legacy of Bansi Lal or Bhajan Lal. The Raos fared better than the rest. To our mind not much breath needs be wasted on stalwarts or their rising sons, flag-bearers of different castes and khaps at The grand old party needs to arrive at a new narrative.
The ‘Best and the Brightest’ among the Congress Backroom Boys were so busy coining rhyming slogans about Samvidhan, Kisaan, Naujawan, Pahalvan and Berozgar Jawan that they completely lost sight of the undercurrent engineered by the silent cadres of the BJP. Gloating over the feuding between the top echelons of the RSS and BJP they had started counting the chicken even before the eggs were laid.
They hastily concluded that the Modi Magic was on the decline and Amit Shah, the resident Chanakya on the NDA side, had also lost his touch. They were lulled in a false sense of security and never suspected that they were being set up at The grand old party needs to arrive at a new narrative.
Not one can deny that Rahul Gandhi had generated a momentum and raised genuine issues in his speeches. His rallies drew large crowds. No one had the guts to point out that the Congress today is a party with a leader and his coterie that totally lacks organisation, ideological moorings and discipline at The grand old party needs to arrive at a new narrative.
There are many who are reluctant to accept Rahul as their leader. They can flout the party line and put self-interest before the party. We have witnessed this in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab and now in Haryana. Kamal Nath, Digvijay Singh and Ashok Gehlot have literally gifted the states under their charge to the BJP. Who needs the loaded dice of EVMs to win electoral battles with wayward war horses like this at The grand old party needs to arrive at a new narrative?
Who is responsible for this disarray and mess? Once again the buck stops at RaGa’s desk. His almost pathological commitment to strategy of ekla chalo re flies in the face of the logic of coalition politics. The Congress—read Rahul Gandhi—is incapable of dislodging the well-organised, well-funded BJP from power. Its call to save secularism sounds hollow when it has no qualms about toeing a soft Hindutva line to win some votes. The Prime Minister’s popularity may have declined, but he still is the most popular leader miles ahead of regional satraps. Are the voters really desperate to get rid of the Modi-Shah duo and the BJP at The grand old party needs to arrive at a new narrative?
The past 10 years have transformed India—for better or worse, one may differ. Majority of Indians, particularly those born in this century, apparently don’t care about independence and integrity of institutions that keep alive democracy. What Modi and BJP have succeeded in doing is to denigrate ‘vestiges of colonialism’ that continue to shackle us.
The targets range from the military upholding customs unrelated to Swadeshi martial pride to the self-selecting judiciary rooted in colonial traditions. In retrospect, the Indian Constitution itself developed from constitutional amendments that the colonial overlords reluctantly implemented. Everything we have taught, from history and colonial science to penal legislation and codes of criminal procedure, urgently needs to be revised at The grand old party must come up with a new story.
It’s not only the PDS rations that have indebted hundreds of millions to the visionary leader who may not have always delivered on his promises. Many among the abjectly poor care about national pride and are devout defenders of their faith. They are confused by Congress’s mixed signalling. It has failed to communicate clearly how does nationalism degenerate into jingoism and chauvinism or secularism becomes a synonym for appeasement of minorities. How has the party that had ushered in liberalisation, privatisation and economic reforms suddenly become a votary for socialism at The grand old party needs to arrive at a new narrative?
Where does the Congress go from here? The answer, as the song has it, is blowing in the wind.